So Elijah was injured at school the other day and to avoid surgery and to see if he will mend naturally, which is what I prefer. He has been placed on crutches for the next two weeks and he is extremely awkward and to be honest I was more worried about him hurting himself, more with the crutches, but Praise God he has managed, clumsiness and all.

Ok here is where I may get the tisk tisk. For this first week he has been still and taking full advantage of it. Can someone get me some water... Can someone pick that up for me? I can't do this, I can't do that and well we have catered to him. My child, even had the nerve to ask if I'd help him shower,lol Adorable huh?We all had a good laugh at that one. lol. The girls have been doubling up on chores to help him out. However tonight he is back in the game. Yes, I'm a mean ole mom, That's right folks I made him get up off his Royal Canadian Rusty Dusty and do his part, which tonight was the few dishes we had accumulated during the day. At first he complained about not being able to function, that was until he seen i was going to go out of my way to make him super comfy, while tending to his chore.

2 stool+ 1 fluffy Blanket in my book = COMFORT!

and it only took him 8690869659587585859595769748480 hours and 15 sec. to get the 8 dishes done. After all was said and done, the very frist thing he did was get down, grab his crutches, go to the living room and holla... CAN YOU MAKE ME A PLATE!( BIG SIGHHHHHH). oh well it was fun while it lasted.

The story below is just that... a story, but it's one that could help remind us of the faith we are supposed to have in all of life situations. It may never play out as easy or well verse as the story below, it may take days, weeks months but rest assure, The Lord is on our side and he will answer any call when it's time and that's where our faith should always lay.

A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet.She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Threetimes, even... The total had to be exactly perfect... No chance here for mistakes.Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, sheslipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall's Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door. She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention, but he was too busy at this moment.Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared her throatwith the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good. Finally she took aquarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter... That did it!'And what do you want?' the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone ofvoice. 'I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages,' hesaid without waiting for a reply to his question. 'Well, I want to talkto you about my brother,' Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. 'He'sreally, really sick...and I want to buy a miracle.' 'I beg your pardon?'said the pharmacist. 'His name is Andrew and he has something badgrowing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now So how much does a miracle cost?' 'We don't sell miracles here, little girl.. I'm sorry but I can't help you,' the pharmacist said, softening a little.. 'Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn't enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs....' The pharmacist's brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, 'What kind of a miracle does your brother need?'' I don't know,' Tess replied with hereyes welling up. 'I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs anoperation. But my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money.' 'How much do you have?' asked the man from Chicago . 'One dollar and eleven cents,' Tess answered barely audibly.

'And it's all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to.' 'Well, what acoincidence,' smiled the man. 'A dollar and eleven cents---the exact price of amiracle for little brothers. ' He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he g rasped her mitten and said 'Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents.. Let's see if I have the miracle you need.'

That well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed free of charge and it wasn't long until Andrew was home again and doing well. Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place. 'That surgery,' her Mom whispered.'was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?' Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost..one dollar and eleven cents....plus the faith of a little child

How blessed we are ,as individuals to been chosen by the Lord to be the parents of a child with a disability. Seems like such a strange thing to say, I know, but over the years I have found that this gift the Lord has bestowed on me, has changed me forever and for the better. It makes me smile to think that the Lord thought so highly of me, his child, to give such a unique gift.

If you think about you, normally when we receive a gift from a friend or family member, we pay close mind to put it up on a shelf, so we can sit back and take it in, protecting it, as it collects dust. However, for us, our gift, in being the parent of a special needs child has truly been one, that continues to keep on giving. You see, we are required to daily maintain our gifts from God, which has, if you really think about it, made us stronger.

Perhaps I need to just speak for myself here but when one of my chidlren are in an immediate need, even though I'm no longer a gym rat, I have managed to leap over furniture, run faster and longer distances without ceasing to take a breathe, I have worked around the clock, just to keep the home in order and keep the bills paid on time. I have fallen on my knees in prayer and cried out to the Lord with absolutely no shame, even in public(smile). So i can say without fail, my gifts from the Lord has truly made me an all around stronger individual. It's even blessed me with patients, wisdom, a kind ,understanding and loving heart towards others, by default. lol. No vase from grammie, could have ever done that, although... it's SUPER NICE!

From time to time, I need to remind myself, that I was hand picked by the Lord to live in this position,, this ministry, this honored standing in life. Yes, it's gets hard, daily,push through, your child needs you. Yes you may desire to cry, crying is yet another blessing from the Lord, so go for it! Others may not truly understand but the Lord does and he is truly what matters.

I encourage you, to remember, we were hand selected by the Lord to take this on, sure bring about a smile to my face. What about yours?

Joel Osteen. Many adore this man and hang onto his every positive word, but is what he teaching biblical, is it meant to get and keep you in tune with the Lord of with nature and self? When i came to matters of Joel, i always stood very neutral, Because, to each his own, right? NO , there is nothing right about thousands and and I me and Thousands of men women and children being taught to Discover the Champion in you. I have personally heard him say have faith in yourself that you will archive your goals? No mention of having faith in the Lord. So after my recent experience and what the lord has revealed to me... in the famous words of Jessica Alba, I can no longer " , BE Neutral,BE SWEDEN"( sorry Mrs Alba, I couldn't resist.LOL.

This summer I decided to spend as much time having fun with my children as possible, so I buy board games all the time. So imagine my delight when at a christian bookstore I found an area of board games. . One in particular called Your best life Now( pay attention to the title it's going to come in a little later) stood out to me like a sore thumb.The sign promotion read... an excellent choice for a solid , christian game, to play with your family and friends. The description, something like will help your family open up share and talk to one another and blah blah blah self esteem. I knew It was going to be a bust, but jokingly bought it anyways, thought of all types of ways to sure ways to lovingly, and jokingly torment my teens, while playing a game that was based on talking openly about ones feelings. However to be honest, really bought it because my spirit was so bothered by it. Garrett and I talked about it in depth before buying it, we actually went back and forth. I finally said, you know Garrett ,I just have to see whats in this box.

We made dinner, and set up the game smack dab in the middle of out living room. The game had soooooo many pieces to it, so it actually took some time to set up. As I set it up, I told my oldest to go get the bible, in case we needed it for reference. Boy was that a trip to the bedroom, that wasn't needed.

Here is the set up of the game

Now as your are clearly able to see, there is a Massive head shot of yours truly on the box yet, honestly, OK not enough to worry some, I know, I was there and heard many times over, OH HEY it's Joel O, look mom the hay this Joel O game marked down. So ok moving past that, lol because that's just me being well retentive. Here is where the truth needs to set in and sink in deep. Take a close look at board game it's self. Notice anything? OK you have a Valley and a Mountain top. OK I'm hopeful and so that's what I thought when I first opened it, nothing new age about it, right? Well no not just based off of that.

Game Play Time (YEAHHHHHHH)

Enlarge Your Vision

Develop a Healthy Self Image

Discover the Power of your Thoughts and Words

Let Go of the Past

Find Strength Through Adversity

Live To Give

Choose to Be Happy

Noooo, I didn't just quote Dr. Phil. Those are the name of the game play cards.

First all players must take a goal tab and write one goal on it, with one way of archiving that goal, fold it , place their name on it and place it in the MY MIRACLE Envelope. Yet i thought the Lord said, miracles are things HE does, not things we do, check out John 2:18; and Matt. 12:38.

ok so Then each Player gets dealt 7 Enlarge your vision cards and two faith cards.

There are seven levels to complete so let's get started shall we? Humm 7, this poor number can pretty much be associated with tons of things from the sublime to the ridiculous.

THAT'S A WHOLE other blog folks... However I had to point it out. So where is Joel's stand in all of this. Let's play on!

Level one: Enlarge your Vision.

You start with the youngest player, they in turn roll the die and then move their game piece that amount of spaces. Then they must pull one of their enlarge your Vision cards.Here is what is on each card and the instructions

Example given per game instructions, search the images with in the image. If you look at a tree and see a cat, then say cat, there are no wrong answers. YEP MEDITATION TIME. However if your not able to describe why you see a cat, you loose a turn or you can use on of two of your faith cards.

NOW I think it's safe to say what role seven plays in this game. Remember the title... Your best Life NOW. Here is where 7 comes in, Meditation 101, Living in the NowYour best life NOW.Living in the NOW is the is just one key focal point of Meditation. Which is then dear sisters, divided off into 7 categories, or LEVELS.

1.Meditation: Peak Experiences and Flow:peak experiences are those moments in which you get totally involved to the point that you lose all sense of time and forget all your worries, fears, and problems.You generally do this by focusing on nature. Do you all remember the Enlarge your vision Cards? No right or wrong answers?

Well how does this line up with the word of God? In the word of God we can definitely see there is right and wrong answers in all areas of our daily lives.

Level two: Develop a Healthy Self Esteem:

Players must look into the little mirror provided as they make a statements about themselves, with a 15 sec limit. If not, the player looses a turn, unless you use that good ole faith card. Mind you the game instructions warn you in the the start, basically not to have to much faith, because it only allows you two faith cards.

2. Meditation :Acting instead of Being part of human nature to be in the NOW at all times. With the help of Meditation, you can be happy without doing anything. It is essential to realize this aspect, otherwise, the attainment of happiness will be difficult. One sure way of getting to this place is learning to be happy with who you are, right here and now.

Look into the mirror everyone, pick out everything you love about yourself NOW and accept and embrace it.

OK I'm not going to go and outline the entire game, but what i am going to do is show you the different levels that line up perfectly with new age teachings and that the bible is no where to be found, Nor was there one mention of the lord anyone in the entire game, no scripture... nothing. Just believe in your, you can do it, and have faith in your self.

Game levels

3Discover the Power of your Thoughts and Words4Let Go of the Past5 Find Strength Through Adversity6Live To Give7 Choose to Be Happy

Meditation levels

3unnessacery thoughts- pretty much self explanatory4 in the Now everything is beautiful- here you learn to let go of your past5 the key to now- teaches you how to overcome life situations6Your potential is Now- learn to give to yourself, serve yourself7 Acceptance- learn how to be and stay happy.

It goes even deeper than this, however i know if i were to bust it all open, no one would read it, soooo,lol, but if you are following the teachings of Joel, please, do so prayerfully, questions things, don't take things for face value. Stay in the word of God, if you desire a good meditation meditate in that day and night. Pray and ask the Lord to up your potion of discernment.

This game and I'm going to have to also go on his books are not safe. you can take it or leave it, but right now, I personally wouldn't be dabbling in anything other than the Lord. I'm glad I bought this game, for me I needed to see it IN MY FACE, but mainly because the Lord allowed me to research it and see what was really going on and then post it here.

We all, including myself have got to be careful. I was going to sell the game on ebay, but the was instructed to destroy it, one less game out there, i guess,lol.

My favorite ice cream in the entire world used to be Chubby Hubby by Ben and Jerry's, however times have changed and the company with it. They have decided , it is extremely important for them to support Freedom to Marry. Freedom to Marry is the gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage equality nationwide. We promote the national conversation about why marriage equality matters while bringing together partner organizations into a larger whole, a shared civil rights campaign and now MY ICE CREAM... is also openly following them as well. So what do you do?

Personally, I can not support homosexuality . Now mind you, I'm not one of those who will go out and in the name of Jesus and go bash someone head in, but I won't support, by or purchase from any company that does. It also doesn't mean I HATE men or women who choose( because it is a choice) to live a homosexual lifestyle. I don't feel they should be cast aside or killed, or hurt and in fact although i do not , will not support a homosexual lifestyle. I won't knock their personal decision to do so. The lord has allowed all of us free will. That means EVERYONE, but being disobedient has a heavy price to pay.

It does mean I'll pray for them, ask the Lord to direct me in his will to minister to anyone who is living this lifestyle and I'm almost certain he will direct me to do so out of love, compassion and weather you like it or not, some understanding, so that I can minister to them appropriately and get through. I will also be contacting Ben and Jerry and let them know how I feel as former customer, a christian and ice cream addict, who LOVED me some Chubby Hubby because I'm a very proactive person and I believe closed mouths don't get feed. PLUS , this stuff was so good, a weakness... so I need to let them know how horrible I feel not being able to cuddle up to my Chubby Hubby.

LOL, I just wrote the last few sentences,lol It made me laugh. You know how we always ask the Lord for help to overcome weaknesses. For the last few weeks have been doing just that, sometimes with a pint of chubby hubby in tow,lol Haaaaaaaaaa. My weakness JUNK FOOD, SUGAR...I'm not here to lie, I'm being real,lol. So today's news stopped me cold turkey. Who says the Lord doesn't have a since of humor? You ask, you shall receive, lol. Plus this gives me the challenge of making my own version and I'll call it Plump Spouse.

Good By Chubby Hubby, Good bye!

Good Bye Chubby,we were once the best of palsGood bye chubby....you made me who I am, a big ole gal

I shall no longer eat you, oh so cold and so comfortingI shall no longer have the dream of candy fields and flowing ice cream cubby hubby streams.

LOL Ok , there is no way I'm going to sit here and really write a poem about ice cream, geeeeees! Because in all honesty, The ice cream is not really the issues. My stand and walk in the Lord is. I mean how hard is it for us not to know, if a company or product we have been supporting for years is in fact supporting something that goes against our personal belief systems as Christians? How many of us do research to check these type things out? In all honesty, if i hadn't gotten this email today I would have not known , until i went to go pick up my fix. Now , please misunderstand, I do not feel the Lord will come and strike you down for buying a dish detergent, from a company that support Freedom to Marry, but I do think after finding out the truth about such an instance, and you either choosing to ignore it, go with it or decided you can do without it, and take a stand for what you believe in. Look at how far you have come, are you really willing to possibly risk it all int he end, because you did not stand firm on the word of God?

I don't claim to know everything but I am spirit lead and when the Holy Spirit quickens me I act, not always when I'm supposed to, and sometimes to late, but if i don't make my mark the conviction is strong and really not worth it. So here is what I do know. If you buy say, any Ben and Jerry's ice cream, you are in fact giving them gusto to add more support for organizations like Freedom to Marry but hey if you don't mind going against the Word of God, then go for it. Then in doing that you support even a bigger cause called Religious Institute and they are specifically sending people to hell on rockets on a daily basis, by teaching and spreading lies about the God we serve and his stance on homosexuality.

The word of God has this to say about the homosexual lifestyle...

Leviticus 18:22Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Leviticus 20:13If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Now we should all Thank God we are not living in the Old testament, or under the same convenient, because Life was harsh in early Old Testament times. The wanderings and struggle for survival of the Israelite s did not permit prisons or rehabilitation. Anyone who deviated seriously from the norm was either stoned to death or exiled. Thank God for grace , mercy and his son, Jesus who died on the cross for our sins. So see there is hope for everyone, in the form of deliverance, including anyone who is currently living in sin. Know that if we aren't willing to stand firm, teach and spread the word of God, so many will be lost. Maybe a close friend, family member, or child, maybe even us. So is it worth it?

Pay attention, once the truth is revealed, don't continue following it. Pray about it, Ask God what his will for your life is and stand!

If there are typos, then... well if you got this far, who cares, you understood, LOL.

LOL, WOW at me this time. So I got this wild hair in me this evening and decided I would make a night of making up new bath salts and such. Since it's so close to Christmas I wanted to experiment with chocolate. So I went to the store, went grocery shopping for my ingredients and guess where they are now?

A. In nice cute contaniers ready to be given out as samples.B. In the trash.C. Drippingof my kitchen ceiling.D. Everywhere, because they exploded.

If you said D, your correct. Apparently, there is a slight, huge chemical reaction when one mixes chocolate powder, sea salt etc. I mixed it all up, and walked away for a sec. It actually POPPED.lol. Poor Tiara was standing next to it, lol cutting up the pizza she just took out of the oven. Yes tonight dinner was ruined in the cross fire. It even managed to reach my ceiling.

Now I ask, what have I done about it?

A. Laughed, then cried, because of the clean up.B. Laughed and haven't stopped yet.C. Well, since it's eatable, let the dog lick the floors clean.D. Clean my daughter up, while laughing, gave the dog the pizza and headed for Mc Donald's.C. Took one look at the clean up, and did an about face, thinking oh well there is more pizza in the oven. Then laughed at my poor daughter.

It was C poor Tiara, Thank God she has her mothers sense of humor. We all had an pretty good laugh but I have yet to clean it up. I walked out of the kitchen, turned the lights off and am hoping that when I go back, it will somehow managed to all disappear.

It's time like these when all you can do is smile and Thank God for your life as it stands. We have had a very busy week, I mean extremely busy. and this was actually just what the Doctor( God) ordered for all of us.

However most of us don't use it... Well i do and below is just one example as to why.

I make no apologizes for being a positive person. If your not and being around one bothers you, I suggest you stop reading now, because my joy is fixed and I mean for it to be contagious. Life doesn't have to be all woes, not if your priorities are in order. I feel mine are in order.

As a child of God I feel privileged, we all are. I believe I am blessed with opportunity in and over my life. Therefore I KNOW I'm priority in the Lords eyes. Just as he is mine, followed right now only by my chidlren. Although it has not always been that way and at times I forget my place, I'm quick to get back in the ranks my blog will explain the reasons why.

Priority explained ...the right to take precedence in obtaining certain supplies, services, facilities, etc., esp. during a shortage.Something or someone given special attention.The highest or higher in importance, rank, privilege, etc.: a priority task.

Yep that's my life in a nut self. I'm extremely privileged as a child of the Most High God..

What is my secret to maintaining my privileged life? What keeps me on the priority list of The Lord? My Prayer life, which puts me in a place of intimacy and favor. If you have this, it puts you there as well. I advise you to start using your privileged status. Now I wasn't really writing about my prayer life, but rather situations and circumstances where it pays to be privileged, where it has certainly paid off to have priority in the Lords eyes.

This week, has not been the easiest week. A few of you know I have been going back and forth with doctors since April, one day I'm told this is whats wrong with me, the next I'm told this is... basically it's gotten to the point, where i have removed myself from all medications and started spending just as much time, as I did running to the doctors, on my knees.. Well it's pretty much evened the playing field and I have never felt better. Now I'm not one of those who say The Lord will heal me and never grace the steps of a doctors office again. I instead I believe wholeheartedly, that the Lord heals his chidlren an abundance of ways and so it pays to be in tune at all times when your going through situations in your life.

My Prime Example.

Mon. I was doing some work for church, all of a sudden , something occurred that stopped me dead in my tracks. I had no choice but to stop working and get seen about it, immediately. Before I left, Pastor and his wife laid hands on me and prayed for healing. Tuesday I had the situation taken care of by that afternoon I was feeling well enough to go to a meeting I could not reschedule,I prayed all he way there, I know the Lord was over that meeting because it went very well, it was very peaceful and quick. Today I woke up with an urgency about my son. I prayed over my chidlren and pleaded the blood of Jesus over them because honestly, i had no clue what it was about. Then the Lord told me to take my son to eye doctor. So I called to make an appointment for him, but found out they were taken walk ins, so i decided to take my girls as well. Just before walking out the door. I had the urge to go back to my office and clean out my desk. In doing so i found lots of old bills and such i never even opened. I started opening them one by one What i seen next blew my mind, so much in fact I had to pick up my phone and verify what I was holding in my hand. In my hand was an insurance card back dated from May until Oct. 31 for me from the state. Now mind you I did apply for it while i was in the hospital, but was denied because of my finical situation. However due to the nature of my emergency and because they knew i would be needing more care outpatient, they approved me , temporarily.I of course had no idea they had done this. I called to verify it and found out that I only had it until Oct 31,2009. Haaaaaaaaaa. Still in disbelief i took it to the eye doctor, and asked them to run it. It came back valid. So I was able to be seen as well. All this time i have had medical insurance, but have been paying all my medical expenses out of pocket. LOL. Now mind you I have racked up over 46,000 bucks in medical bills since April and now, thanks to this, they have all been paid for. Praise God. Oh but it doesn't stop there... So we all see the eye doctor. Tiara fine..., Arianna, fine. Elijah... The doc looks at him a even before the examination starts and says . Oh yeah he will need glasses, he really needs them. The Holy spirit is speaking to me. I was like excuse me what did you say? He turns to me and says, I'm a Christian and the Holy spirit told me your son will need glasses. All i could do was laugh.LOL and I mean loudly. I know this man was waiting on a negative response from me, especially since i said what i said and how i said it,lol. However i told him why i was laughing, and he smiles, turned back around and started Elijah's exam. After the examine he told me, Your son has a severe astigmatism, and he has Deuternopia. HUH????

Red/ Green color blindness. I was like your kidding me! So much was explained. Now mind you I tried tot ell the last doctor, something was wrong with his color, but the doc just sunbed me off. Anyways Praise God now we know for certain. So now, My turn. I passed with flying colors. However he looks at me and says, have you ever been tested for diabetes? I told him yes, in fact two months ago and was fine. He looked at me and said, you need to be tested immediately again. He said, you are bleeding in the back of your eye. Praise God! I'll have it checked out tomorrow, but WOW... How awesome was that?

So Garrett had a doctors appointment this morning as well. He didn't tell me about until we pulled up at the eye doctor, and then he says... I have a doctors appointment. The reason he does it this way, because he didn't want me to worry or go with him. HUMMMMMMMMMM. Mind you he has been weezing for a few weeks an his inhaler has not worked nor has the one they given me a few weeks ago. So he goes, comes back to pic us up. I immanently ask him what the doctor said. Without hesitation he tells me. She says my heart is enlarged.I looked at him, rolled up my magazine and smacked him with it, and said, will you be serious? He laughs and says, I am being serious... She told me that's the reason I'm wheezing, because my heart is pressing against my lung. We both got very quite. I really wasn't certain what to say, other than the fact i had a million medical questions. but the Lord held my tongue. I was a tad upset i wasn't at the appointment, because I really had TONS of questions.

We were still waiting on glasses, after a few mins i told him I'd be back i needed to make a call. Went outside and called my mother. I needed to know what having an enlarged heart meant and asked her what we needed to do. My mother is not only an amazing women, but is also a profound women of medicine. We prayed and The Lord instantly let me know it would be just fine. I so believe Him an his promises. I'm pretty certain Garrett does to, because he is as cool as a cucumber.

It pays to play the priority card the Lord has placed in the hands of his children. He desires and wants nothing but the best for his children. His first priority of course for us s our salvation, but sec is our well being. When we pray it sets up and establishes a link, relationship a direct line to our father. I like to think when in need, I can just simply give it a tug. This week have been tugging constantly and he has answered each one, with love.

1. You count the sprinkles on each kid's cupcake to make sure they're equal. 2. You have time to shave only one leg at a time. 3. You hide in the bathroom to be alone. 4. Your kid throws up and you catch it. 5. Someone else's kid throws up at a party. You keep eating. 6. You consider finger paints to be a controlled substance. 7. You've mastered the art of placing large quantities of pancakes and eggs on a plate without anything touching. 8. Your child

insists that you read "Once Upon a Potty" out loud in the lobby of Grand Central Station and you do it. 9. You cling to the high moral ground on toy weapons; your child chews his toast into the shape of a gun. 10. You hope ketchup is a vegetable, since it's the only one your child eats. 11. You can't bear the thought of your son's first girlfriend. 12. You hate the thought of his wife even more.

13. You find yourself cutting your husdband's sandwiches into cute shapes. 14. You can't bear to give away baby clothes - it's so final. 15. You hear your mother's voice coming out of your mouth when you say, "NOT in your good clothes!" 16. You stop criticizing the way your mother raised you. 17. You donate to charities in the hope that your child won't get that disease.

18. You hire a sitter because you haven't been out with your husband in ages, then spend half the night checking on the kids. 19. You use your own saliva to clean your child's face. 20. You say at least once a day, "I'm not cut out for this job", but you know you wouldn't trade it for the world.

Due to last nights dinner mishap, I decided to get up and try something different. I have nerve made a coffee cake and went online to find a simple recipe because i wen to bed actually craving coffee. I came across this easy recipe and will make sure to keep it tucked away for another day of cravings.

Coat a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray. Separate large package of biscuit dough into 8 biscuits and small package into 5 biscuits. Cut each biscuit into 6 pieces and place pieces in a large bowl. Pour melted butter over biscuit pieces.

In a small bowl, combine granulated sugar, raisins, nuts, and cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture over biscuit pieces and toss until evenly coated. Place dough into Bundt pan.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until center is firm. Let cool 10 to 15 minutes then invert Bundt pan over a plate to release cinnamon ring.

In a small bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar and milk to make a glaze; drizzle over ring and serve immediately.

This was so easy and we all enjoyed pulling it apart. not the most cooth thing, but hey, who needs etiquette when your having fun?

I just got finished cleaning my office. it's amazing how fast one can become unorganized. I hate clutter, so it was either do or die. So now it's off to game stop to replace two broken DS Lites( oh what joy), and to the gardens to take lots of outdoor pictures . It's amazing outside, right now. Saturdays are our family drive drives. We get in the car and just go, no destination, just drive. I would love to take this opportunity to sleep,lol but with Garrett at the helm, one must always be alert,lol. He is a good-bad driver. Those are the ones who love to drive so are always so willing to do it, but thy put your life in danger because they can't drive a straight line...YEP that is him. he i going to kill me for saying that.

To be honest I don't feel like moving right now, I'm not feeling myself( ladies I know some of you can relate monthly) but it's one of those push through days. So even as I'm type this out. I'm pushing,lol. I have no idea yet what will be having for dinner. Chili sounds nice.

The chidlren didn't have school today which was fabulous to me. I can't standing getting up with them in the mornings. lol. However I do it but because I have to.Most times I'm already up working, but when I do manage to sleep, I hate when that alarm rings! So they sleep in and we had a very late breakfast. I made some homemade maple sausage the other day, so today we tried it. I think i need to go back to the drawling board on that one. It wasn't all that mapliy,lol( I know not a word). Breakfast was good, clean up , not so much!

For lunch we had air pudding. YUM! I think everyone should try it. It's fat free and less feeling. You could actually eat it all day and never ever get full. In case you have no clue what air pudding is, here is the recipe...

1 cup of Nada anyways you please! Your done. How simple is that???

I took a much needed nap on my love seat while watching reruns of SG1 on my laptop. I only woke up because I forgot to turn on the cooling fan and it burned my thighs.LOL. I jumped up and stumbled down the hall to the bathroom, only to find the door locked and a meowing cat on the other side of it. I demanded Tiara open it, so i could see what was going on. I only wish I hadn't!Question:Why are cats so skinny and angry after being washed ?

I demanded the bathroom to be cleaned due to the drowning of Tommy cat and jumped in the shower, that's right it was almost 1 something and I hadn't yet . Does this make me a bad person? Maybe,lol... However I knew I had no company coming and had only planned on going one place. soooooooooo

I sat back down to re watch my SG1 and then woke up again because my doorbell rang. I don't even remember falling asleep but I apparently did. I stammered over tot he door opened it and a lady introduced herself to me and said she was here to pick up free cycle??? So i handed her a bag of what i thought was clothing, but I was so sleepy, i ended up handing her a bag of trash. ( home embarrassing!!!!). My daughter sitting there, knowing what i did, started cracking up, but did not correct me... Why because she is a Stinky Teen, who loves to see others demise. I can only imagine what this lady was thinking. She most likely thought I was drunk being i was walking around a half sleep state. She took the bag though and went on her way. Once i sat down and finally got out of my child why she was laughing so hard. I jumped up and called the lady and apologized repeatably. Thank God she had a sense of humor. She brought my trash back and exchanged it for the bag og clothing I had originally promised her.

Ok last but not least... Dinner Fried chicken with a extra bit of dryunseasoned green beans, and the best mac and cheese EVER! Serious, that was the only thing that was good. it was awesome.... so we sat down and ate or horrible meal( exception mac and cheese). and watched Fireproof. If you haven't seen this movie, i advise you to do so. it was really great.

Ok... any typos... Hey I'm still sleepy and when i'm doing i'm going right back on the couch.THIS HAS BEEN THE BEST DAY EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First off, let me say I was at one time the worlds worst typist,lol those of you that know me know that to have been the case, However the Lord got onto me about it and I'm working very hard to become one of the best... So with that said, there I'm sure will be some typos here and there , but just know the God is not threw with me yet and pray that i get better with each and every word i type. With that types...

My rant!

I hear this more often than I even care to admit right now and I have to say... It makes me so mad! Everyday I'm faced with someone going through something in their lives and the first thing that say or do is blame it on satan instead of either falling to their knees in prayer or holding themselves accountable for their own actions.

How is it we have come to the conclusion as Christians that each and everything bad or negative things that happens in our lives is because of the enemy? When did we decided to allow that demon to have so much authority in and over our daily lives?

Prime example...Today I go outside to start my truck and it won't turn over, the person with me hollas out, Oh Lord Satan is really attacking you sister! So how is it his attack was was stopped when The Lord put on me the mind to go over ,pick up my water hose and add water to the battery? The truck started right up... Now seriously, was that an attack of the enemy or ME not tending to my vehicle? If you answered me... you are right?

So how many of us refuse to hold ourselves accountable for our own actions? I think if you really pay attention you can easily say over half as willing to just lay the blame on the enemy, thus giving him more credit then he deserves. There is no doubt in my mind after you giving him so much credit, he will eventually step in and gladly take over keeping drama and confusion in and around your life. However you made it so easy for him to do it.

Saints and friends, we have got to do better here. It makes no sense to me at all, but lately I have been doing some serious studies on spiritual warfare and I'm starting to see that those of us who are called to ministry need to step our game and start teaching the truth directly from the Word of God and stop leaning so much into our own understanding and then passing it off to others as truth.

The Truth Is...

People's beliefs concerning Satan range from the silly to the abstract—from a little red guy with horns who sits on your shoulder urging you to sin, to an expression used to describe the personification of evil. The Bible, however, gives us a clear portrait of who Satan is and how he affects our lives. Put simply, the Bible defines Satan as an angelic being who fell from his position in heaven due to sin and is now completely opposed to God, doing all in his power to thwart God's purposes.

Satan was created as a holy angel. Isaiah 14:12 possibly gives Satan’s pre-fall name as Lucifer. Ezekiel 28:12-14 describes Satan as having been created a cherubim, apparently the highest created angel. He became arrogant in his beauty and status and decided he wanted to sit on a throne above that of God (Isaiah 14:13-14; Ezekiel 28:15; 1 Timothy 3:6). Satan’s pride led to his fall. Notice the many “I will” statements in Isaiah 14:12-15. Because of his sin, God barred Satan from heaven.

Satan became the ruler of this world and the prince of the power of the air (John 12:31; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2). He is an accuser (Revelation 12:10), a tempter (Matthew 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:5), and a deceiver (Genesis 3; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:3). His very name means “adversary” or “one who opposes.” Another of his titles, the devil, means “slanderer.”

Even though he was cast out of heaven, he still seeks to elevate his throne above God. He counterfeits all that God does, hoping to gain the worship of the world and encourage opposition to God's kingdom. Satan is the ultimate source behind every false cult and world religion. Satan will do anything and everything in his power to oppose God and those who follow God. However, Satan’s destiny is sealed—an eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).

So now you know and should know better than to keep giving him more credit than he deserves. Start knowing , understanding and teaching the truth and start teaching the God is the only one who is really in control at all times.

James 1:12 - Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Mark collapsed in his desk chair. What a day, he thought. His project at work was late, 2 weeks late to be precise and his manager was not happy about it. She had made that very clear to him during a meeting earlier today. Driving home had taken him more than an hour due to an accident on the freeway. Under normal circumstances, the drive would take less than 20 minutes. He missed dinner with his family, something he always look forward to and cherished. Instead, he had just finished eating the microwaved leftovers by himself.

To top things off, he once again was unable to mow the lawn as it was dark once he finally got home and had dinner. He was only about 2 weeks behind on it and was expecting a “reminder” letter from the HOA any day now.

Looking towards the desk, he spotted the checkbook, and next to it a huge pile of bills just waiting to be paid. Mark had put “bill night” off as long as he could. A few were already overdue and a few others due within the next day or two.

Turning on the fluorescent desk light, he began opening each one and adding them up…

1. HOA Letter reminding him to mow his yard - figures he thought to himself. Sighing, he tossed it in the trash2. Samson’s Workout World - $90 ($40 for last month - he had forgot to pay, $10 late fee, and $40 for this month). Funny thing was, neither him or his wife had been there in 6 months. They kept meaning, just never had the time.3. Ford Motor Credit - $520 (Total Balance $15,000) - They had purchased a new SUV last year4. Southeast Hospital - $1,600 (for his daughter Sarah’s stay in the hospital 6 months ago)5. Visa - $300 (Total Balance: $8,312)6. Discover Card - $119 (Total Balance: $3,217)

“Wow, this doesn’t even include the mortgage!”, he said out loud to himself. He opened his paycheck he had received earlier that day and winced as he looked at the amount. His check wouldn’t even cover the minimum payments.

He sighed, knowing he now had to do the thing he had feared most, “Samantha? Honey, we need to talk…”

**********

Mark is in what I like to call, financial chaos. Not only is his personal life stressful and hectic, his finances are a mess making his level of stress exponentially higher. He has more incoming than he has outgoing. He’s facing bills that are falling behind, late fees and way he’s in way too much debt. To top it off, he had a bad day at work, a terrible drive home, missed dinner with his family, and now he has to tell his wife they can’t make the minimum payments on all of their bills. Mark and Samantha are being tested. Ever been in their shoes? Does this maybe all sound too familiar?

Mark and Samatha have two options for how to handle their situation (note: I didn’t say Mark’s situation) :

1. They can get angry, ask God why he is letting this happen to them and wonder why their non-Christian neighbors get by just fine. This is what most people tend tend to do. They pray and don’t change their behavior at all, hoping that God will just make it all away. But we don’t change one bit.2. Understand that God tests our faith and gives us what seems to sometimes be insurmountable problems but never gives us more than we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13). How we handle the test is really what drives us to success and allows us to follow the path that God is trying to lead us down.

We as humans, have a tendency to want to blame everyone but ourselves for our problems including God. How often have you asked God why He was allowing some bad thing to occur in your life? Shamefully, I have, far too many times.

When the storms of life began to blow a little harder than we are comfortable with, instead of becoming angry or frustrated, we need to realize that the situation is most likely a test. A test designed to see how we will react. A test designed to test our faith and the strength of our relationship with God. God does indeed test us, and does so to increase our faith. 1 Thessalonians 2:4 says “On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.” Deuteronomy 8:2 reminds us that God also does this to humble us and better know us, “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.”

When we are tested we two options, pass or fail. Who wants to fail God? I certainly don’t. Each time you face a trial or difficult time in your life, ask yourself is God testing me? Chances are He is. Don’t fail Him and look at the trial as a chance to learn and strengthen your relationship with him. God has a plan for everything that occurs in your life, regardless of how big or how small, and that plan is always in our best interest.

Going back to personal finance, God wants us to be good stewards with out money (Luke 16). Luke 16:10 tells us - “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much“.

Make every effort to be a good steward and to pass the tests, trials and tribulations (James 1:2) you may face daily.

Mark informed Sarah of the bad news. It wasn’t a pleasant conversation, but fortunately, this chaotic financial moment became the turning point for their finances. They decided to pass the test and show God they could be good stewards of their finances. The recognized that their “I want it now” mentality was the ultimate cause of their financial situation. They realized their situation was a way of God teaching them good stewardship and to help them get on a better path. That evening, they recognized they were the problem. They decided to work on their finances together, they developed a budget, to hold each other accountable, and to reduce their expenses to live on less than they earn.

The next morning, Mark listed their the new SUV they had purchased on Craigslist and sold it that week. They owed more on it than it was worth and had to borrow some money to pay the difference, but owing $2,000 was better than owing $15,000.

Mark got a second job working at UPS in the evenings. They took the first UPS paycheck and got current on their bills. They then saved up a $1,500 emergency fund and developed a debt snowball. They began paying as much as they could on their debt. A few weeks later they realized the house they had was just too way too much for them, so they sold it and bought a smaller home a little further out of the city that was significantly cheaper. They found the smaller home was really nice, as it required less upkeep and allowed them to spend more time with themselves and their children.

Two years later, Mark and Samantha signed the check that would pay-off their Visa card, their last debt. They had a nice home that was well within their means, two payed for used cars than ran well, and a ton of spare money each month they could allocate to their 401k savings program and their 6 months emergency fund. Both of them made a number of sacrifices during that two years. They didn’t eat out much and spent more time at home. They never stopped tithing and continued to tithe 10% each month. It was hard, but they did. Mark and Samantha both agreed it was worth the effort. The freedom they now felt could not be explained in words.

Maybe you yelled at your child because they weren't moving fast enough, but the real problem was that you were late because of your lack of planning. You took your frustration on your child and that wasn't fair.

Maybe you let your emotions get the best of you in a business setting and you've said some things that you now regret. Or maybe you still feel they were right, but just not appropriate to say out loud.

Maybe you turned a small annoyance into a full blown fight with your spouse right before dinner because you are really frustrated about some bigger issue that may or may not have to do with him or her.

Maybe you dropped the ball on something important because you didn't plan well. First inclination? Is there someone or something else to blame? Ever done that?

Sorry is a powerful word and if used correctly, will heal wounds, open doors ad bring about peace and order in your life. Yet one of the most difficult things for any of us to do is to admit when we're wrong. It might be that we believe we are right or it might be that our spirit becomes too prideful to humble ourselves to say those simple words, "I'm sorry." It's also difficult to say you're sorry to someone who might not appreciate that you are. Sometimes the person we've offended is prideful themselves and we don't want to say we're sorry just to have it taken as a point of weakness.

Regardless of the reason for one's resistance, we have much to learn about humility from the Bible. David shares in Psalm 25:9, "Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He teaches sinners in the way. The humble He guides in justice and the humble He teaches His way."

We should be able to come to a place where we can admit when we're wrong and not take it personally, rather a place for us to grow from. I personally have much more respect for those who can humble themselves when they need to and very little for those who can not. Saying sorry does not mean your weak, weak minded or a doormat. Instead it screams I'm strong, willing and able to do whats right and the right thing to do, when you have wronged someone is to give a heartfelt...

(disclaimer: These are only childhood memories, can't say much more than that,lol)

Last night I had an opportunity to talk to a young lady(yes because we are still young,lol I'm only 25 for the umpteenth year.) that I went to school with name Amy. I truly enjoyed our talk, such as it was, because we basically laughed through he entire conversation.

It's funny when you think of your high school. I know so many people may cringe, but despite all I went though , the good, the bad and the extremely ugly, I really enjoyed it. I can't say I remember my high school being extremely clique, however there was defiantly groups of faithful friends. My rule back then, pretty much the way it is now, if you got along with me, I got alone with you. I could have cared less about your hair, or fashion sense, the money your parents had or car your drove. Heart and personality always carried a big impact on my acceptance of an individual.

So anyways Amy and I were cracking up about a trip to a spook house. I was about 14 and driving very illegally yet I was allowed to do so, so I did. So it was decided a group of us would head about 10 miles out of our city to go to a this spook house that was once a old hospital called Jane Chin. It was rumored to be haunted, so our desire to get there was stronger than ever( we had no clue back then about dipping and dabbling in things like that, it was only fun for us, Thank God for his mercy and wisdom now.). I went from house to house picking up all that was going with us. it wasn't until I got to a friends house, that a her mother questioned my age and ability to be driving. at which I had no real response, because I had no desire to lie ( hahahah I was such a perfect little angel,lol) but I didn't have to because another one of the young ladies, quickly spoke up for me and told the other girls young mother, I had permission and I was a very safe driver. So we all loaded up and off we went with a curfew.

We arrived safely, got in line giggling and acting like typical teens. We entered the spook house and the fun began. I don't think any of us realized just how scary it really was. We screeched,screamed, cried and even hit every creature that came at us. At one point one a young lady hit one of the masked villains of doom so hard they ended up stopping us, turning on the lights and checking the poor guy and only let us continue with a warning not to do it again. ROTF Poor Amy, got so scared at one point while we were forced to walk on our knees in one section, ran directly into a heating duct(???)and she jacked herself up pretty good. LOL sorry Amy, it was funny,lol. Upon making it out, we instantly gained our nerves of steal back and all had a great laugh about our experience. It was time to get home because the curfew was closely approaching.Things were going great until, I managed to fall in a hole and ended up throwing the car keys off into the darkness and into tons of fall leaves. LOL. Talk about the fear of God being placed in 5 young girls with the though of being late for curfew. We all searched frantically for those keys on our hands and knees until we found them.

Now I don't remember if we made it home on time, or if any of us got in trouble, but I do remember having a very silent ride home,lol

Is it possible for one to be defined by the foods they eat? I never thought so until I moved my family from the Midwest to the deep south. Upon opening my mouth, I revealed two things to my new acquaintances... One, I wasn't from around these parts. Two, It didn't matter where I was from, If I wasn't from the South, I was a yank and that meant, I must sugar in my grits. Who was I to deny they were right, I did and do put sugar in my grits. How they knew it, is beyond me but it has confirmed in me that God, does in need have a sense of humor.